Eucharistic Adoration for Priests

The Secret of Priestly Holiness and Supernatural Fruitfulness

2011-12-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

If only souls knew the power to purify and to transform
that emanates from My tabernacles!
If only My priests knew this
they would hasten into My presence
and remain there,
waiting for Me to do in them
what, of themselves, they cannot do.

It is the simple prayer of adoration
that renders a priest fit for the sacred ministry
by giving him a pure heart
and by correcting all that is incompatible with My Divine Holiness
and with My Priestly Love in his life.
This way of holiness through adoration
is a secret revealed to My saints in ages past,
and it is a gift that I am offering My priests
in these times of impurity, persecution, and darkness.

For impurity,
I will give them a shining purity
that will blaze before the eyes of the world
as a testimony to Divine Love.
For persecution
I will give them a manly strength and a resoluteness of purpose
that will confound those who plot their downfall.
For darkness
I will give them a clear light by which to order their steps
and see what choices are pleasing to My Heart.

Time spent in My presence is not time wasted.
It is the ground and support
of every word spoken by My priests in the exercise of their ministry;
it is the secret of a priestly action that is supernaturally fruitful,
bearing fruit that will last.

~ Excerpt from Vultus Christi ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for Priests. Amen.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's Intercession for a Stillborn Baby Boy

2011-10-04T17:39:00.000-04:00

Bonnie Engstrom remembers praying silently to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen over and over again after her baby son was born lifeless and without a pulse for 61 minutes.

~ Excerpt from Catholic News Agency ~

Prayer for Canonization

Heavenly Father, source of all holiness, You raise up within the Church in every age men and women who serve with heroic love and dedication. You have blessed Your Church through the life and ministry of Your faithful servant, Archbishop Fulton J Sheen. He has written and spoken well of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and was a true instrument of the Holy Spirit in touching the hearts of countless people.

If it be according to Your Will, for the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the salvation of souls, we ask You to move the Church to proclaim him a saint. We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

~ From archbishopsheencause.org ~

St. Padre Pio and Fr. Stefano Manelli, His Spiritual Child

2011-09-23T11:50:00.009-04:00

Today is the Feast of St. Pio, affectionately known as Padre Pio, a modern miracle worker who had the stigmata of Our Lord's wounds imprinted visibly on his flesh. He was spiritual director of Fr. Stefano Manelli, our founder, and his entire family.

Mass offered by Fr. Stefano Manelli:

Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli was born in Fiume/Rijeka (Hrvatska), Italy on May 1, 1933. His parents were Servant of God Settimio Manelli and Servant of God Licia Gualandris, spiritual children of St. Pio of Prietrelcina. He was the sixth of the twenty-one children.

He received his first communion from Padre Pio himself in 1938.

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Fr. Raymond Nobiletti, M.M.: Maryknoll Priest, 9/11 First Responder and Survivor

2011-09-15T12:31:00.000-04:00

"...the phone rang and a neighboring parish priest asked if I could go immediately to the World Trade Center. Priests were needed to minister to the wounded. The office TV then revealed that this was no small plane crash."

"Stunned by the image of the towering inferno, I was in a daze while collecting the Holy Oils, stole, and prayer book needed to administer the Sacraments. This would not be the first time in 30 years of priesthood that I would walk into a disaster such as this. In 1972 in Hong Kong, I was waist deep in the mud of a landslide that took the lives of 72 people. I learned how important it was to be an instrument of God’s presence and am still humbled by that privilege. I knew that the presence of a priest would be important to both survivors and responders that morning at the World Trade Center."

"God’s presence was made visible in the Sacraments of the Church, the ministry of the priesthood, and the compassion shown toward the victims by the first responders. It was spontaneous and unexpected as are so many important and meaningful occasions of God’s presence in the face of evil. God’s grace led me down to the World Trade Center that day. The needs of the people and victims were more important than the risk of being there. I did think that I would see God face-to-face that morning."

"The recognizable presence of a priest who represents the compassion and forgiveness of God should never be underestimated, especially in the midst of sudden crisis or in the face of such evil. The presence of God and the grace of God was and still is tangible at Ground Zero.

What a gift and privilege it was to be an instrument of God’s grace and part of the team of people from all walks of life who made God so present to all on that day. In our own life journey everyday, we continue to experience God’s presence in these people and this place.

Father Raymond Nobiletti, M.M., excerpts from his remembrance of 9/11

Chinatown, New York City,

September 2011

Lord, give me comfort, give me strength, give me hope in the face of sorrow. Give me the knowledge that you are beside me today and every tomorrow. Let me be there for others who reach out to me in their time of need. Let me follow the path you set for me, no matter where it may lead.

Servants of Christ Priest: Lives Offered for the Sanctification of Priests

2011-08-25T18:25:00.002-04:00

We offer our life as a continuous offering for the personal sanctification of all priests of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church...

The Servants of Christ the Priest is a new foundation of Catholic religious family, with all the difficulties that has a new foundation, in existence for two years in the Diocese of Porto - Portugal, with a canonical process for approval of the Statutes of the Community course. This new foundation has the charisma and intended to promote dignity of the liturgy, parishes and religious communities that do not sing the Divine Office, forming and helping the people of God for the worthy celebration of the praise due to the Blessed Trinity. + You who love the God, look upon those who work in establishing the kingdom of Christ! This new religious family needs your help! + All the work of God, born of His holy will, and grow by the Brothers of Charity. We, the Servants of Christ the Priest, despite the great desire to serve Christ in all of our being, we can not do it for lack of physical and economic conditions. Thanks to the glorious action of Divine Providence, we have place for our first convent, however, we need material for our Chapel and all aid is welcome. We still need a wood stove, dishwasher, beds, etc., so we implore the Holy Trinity that touch the hearts of all our brothers in Christ, so that with everyone's help, we can bring to fruition, this work of God started in us. For our part, we will continue to say YES - FIAT, as the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, Patroness and Queen, with the title of Holy Mother Church, so that, like her, regardless of the difficulties and obstacles, can deliver us all day, those who in His infinite mercy, has delivered us from darkness, and called us into his marvelous light. You, dear brother, dear sister, you read this letter, if God calls you to work with him, asking you what He Himself has given you, you respond to His holy calling, for this cause by sharing the little they have not forgetting, which is never how much is it that pleases God, but the joy of doing, and, in the person of the brothers, serve the Lord Christ himself. We hope that very soon, we can arrange a ride-living, our small and very dear convent, so that everyone can see for themselves the place that He, in His infinite goodness, has prepared in order The radicalism of the total serving a life consecrated to Him and delivered, to the salvation of souls and the sanctification of his priests. * This community lives in Providence and love of the brothers committed and faithful to Jesus Christ ... * * Help this work God to grow and multiply! * * Be a Patron of the Work of God! * * May the Lord Almighty, the reward at 100 for 1! * + Come, ye blessed of my Father! + Servants of Christ the Priest Street Tristan Vaz Teixeira, 97, 2 TC 4435-494 RIO TINTO PORTUGAL@ general servosdecristo priest . com +351 22 4881348 (Translation by Google)

~ From Servants of Christ Priest ~

Pope Benedict XVI Counsels Seminarians in Madrid During World Youth Day 2011

2011-08-23T15:39:00.000-04:00

"To be modeled on Christ, dear seminarians, is to be identified ever more closely with him who, for our sake, became servant, priest and victim. To be modeled on him is in fact the task upon which the priest spends his entire life. We already know that it is beyond us and we will not fully succeed but, as St Paul says, we run towards the goal, hoping to reach it (cf. Phil 3:12-14).

"That said, Christ the High Priest is also the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep, even giving his life for them (cf. Jn 10:11). In order to liken yourselves to the Lord in this as well, your heart must mature while in seminary, remaining completely open to the Master. This openness, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, inspires the decision to live in celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and, leaving aside the world’s goods, live in austerity of life and sincere obedience, without pretence."

"Under the guidance of your formators, open your hearts to the light of the Lord, to see if this path which demands courage and authenticity is for you. Approach the priesthood only if you are firmly convinced that God is calling you to be his ministers, and if you are completely determined to exercise it in obedience to the Church’s precepts.

"With this confidence, learn from him who described himself as meek and humble of heart, leaving behind all earthly desire for his sake so that, rather than pursuing your own good, you build up your brothers and sisters by the way you live, as did the patron saint of the diocesan clergy of Spain, St John of Avila. Moved by his example, look above all to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests. She will know how to mould your hearts according to the model of Christ, her divine Son, and she will teach you how to treasure for ever all that he gained on Calvary for the salvation of the world. Amen."

~ Pope Benedict XVI; excerpts from Eucharist with Seminarians Homily, August 20, 2011 ~

Interesting Facts About American Priests and World Youth Day

2011-08-14T17:09:00.000-04:00

More than half of the priests who were ordained in the U.S. in 2011 were between the ages of 25 and 34. This according to a report released by the American Conference of Catholic Bishops. About 480 priests were ordained this year and roughly 20 percent of them attended World Youth Day at one time in their lives.

Archbishop Charles Chaput: Requirements for Real Reform in the Church

2011-08-12T10:58:00.000-04:00

"...Bishops, priests, and deacons are too often weak and sinful. They need to be held to high standards. Some deserve to be chastised. The clergy’s leadership in the Church should always be marked by humility and service, and never by a sense of entitlement. But men and women didn’t found the Church, they don’t own her; and they have no license to reinvent her. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ, and the different roles with the Christian community – clergy, laity, and religious life – have equal dignity but different purposes. Sin and failure, including by the clergy, need to be named. But when people deride their bishops and priests out of pride and resentment or some perverse desire for they perceive as “power,” they undermine the Church herself, and they set themselves against the God whose vessel she is. And that, as Scripture suggests, leads in a painful direction.

"All real reform in the Church requires two things...Renewal begins not in vilifying others, but in examining ourselves honestly, repenting of our sins and changing ourselves. This applies to every baptized person, from the Pope to the average man or woman earning a wage. We are all sinners. We are all in need of repentance and God’s mercy. When we really understand that, we can speak to each other with both honesty and love, and restoring the mission of the Church can begin.

"Today’s Gospel gives us the second thing needed for any lasting reform: faith. Not faith as theology, or faith as a collection of doctrines and practices; but faith as a single-minded confidence in God; faith as the humility – and in a sense, the imprudence, the passion, the recklessness – to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ. That kind of faith changes people. That kind of faith shifts the world on its axis, because nothing can stand against it. As long as Peter keeps his eyes and his heart fixed on Jesus Christ, he can do the impossible – he can walk on the water. The moment he gives in to doubt and fear, he begins to sink. So it is with our personal faith, and so it is with life and the health of the Church.

"...God is calling each of us here today – clergy, lay, and religious – to love him with all our hearts and to renew the life of his Church. God is calling us now. Tomorrow will be too late. So let’s pray for each other, and support each other – and begin."

~ Archbishop Charles Chaput; excerpt from homily ~

St. Jean Vianney: Role Model and Patron for all Priests

2011-08-04T18:15:00.000-04:00

"Behold the power of the priest!

The tongue of the priest makes God from a morsel of bread!

It is more than creating the world...

The Blessed Virgin cannot make her divine Son descend into the host.

A priest can, however simple he may be."

~ St. Jean Vianney ~

John Cardinal Carberry's Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.

In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your sons who are close to you because of their priestly ordination and because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much. Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

Venerable Fr. Nelson Baker: "The Amazing Good That One Priest Can Do"

2011-08-01T18:16:00.000-04:00

"While the Church has not yet officially declared him a saint, most people in Buffalo, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, through the years have always spoken of Father Baker as a saint. The institutions that he founded continue to serve people today. The infant home now cares for severely handicapped children. Young people in need of supervision are helped at Baker Hall. The hospital has been reborn as an institution that cares for the aging. The parish remains active with about 2000 families and a large parochial school. Pilgrims still come in even greater numbers than before. They do so to pay tribute to Our Lady of Victory, but also to honor Father Baker."

"I also marveled at the amazing good that one priest can do. I thought of the fine work of our priests here at home in the Diocese of Syracuse — who on a day-to-day basis serve the needs of our people in parishes and institutions. They do so, perhaps not in the extraordinary manner of Father Baker, but nevertheless in a very real and personal way. They serve faithfully the needs of God’s people and respond to God’s call to holiness of life."

Father Baker’s favorite prayer:

O Victorious Lady! Thou who has such powerful influence with Thy Divine Son, in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for those for whom we pray, that their hearts being softened by the rays of Divine Grace, they may return to the unity of the true faith, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the canonization of Father Baker:

Lord you gave us Your servant Nelson Baker as an example of service to the poor, homeless, and young. By Father Baker's ardent concern for those in need, inflame our hearts and lives with compassion for the poor, justice for the oppressed, hope for the troubled, and courage to those in doubt. We pray through the intercession of Our Lady of Victory, if it be your will, that your servant, Nelson Baker, may one day be canonized. Amen.

~ Excerpts from Bishop Robert Cunningham's column ~

Previous posts about Venerable Fr. Nelson Baker:

~ American priest Fr. Nelson Baker, Apostle of Charity ~

~ Fr. Nelson Baker Declared Venerable ~

Abp. Chaput: Priests Needed for the Ongoing Presence of Christ in the World

2011-07-22T10:03:00.002-04:00

"No matter how many other things bear good fruit for the Gospel in our day, there is no ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in the world without the Church; there is no Church without the Eucharist; and there is no Eucharist without the priest.

"As a result, in every generation, we always need good priests: well-formed men of hope and courage; men who love Jesus Christ, love the Church and are eager to serve God’s people. And—equally important—we need a community of believers that will encourage these men, and support them as a family in their sacrifices."

~ Archbishop Charles Chaput; excerpt from here. ~

Sr. Consolata Betrone: Entrusted by Jesus to Lead Priests Back to God

2011-07-15T13:42:00.000-04:00

"Jesus reveals to me the intimate sufferings of His Heart

caused by the faithlessness of souls consecrated to Him."

~ Sr. Consolata Betrone, Nov. 9, 1934 ~

"Humble and great, active and contemplative, serene and tormented, suffering and full of joy, Consolata led a linear life reconciling each differing thing in herself and unifying everything in the ardent love of God. Long and intensely tempted herself, she had a delicate understanding of sinners, especially for consecrated souls who had transgressed, and for their conversion she offered God all her suffering and pain and finished by offering life itself."

~ From Statement introducing the beatification process of Sr. Consolata Betrone ~

Consolata Betrone

(1903-1946)

The sacrifices and prayers of a spiritual mother for priests benefit especially those who have strayed or abandoned their vocations. Jesus has called countless women in his Church to this vocation of prayer, such as Sister Consolata Betrone, a Capuchin nun from Turin. Jesus said to her, “Your life-long task is for your brothers. Consolata, you too, shall be a good shepherdess and go in search of your brothers and bring them back to me.”

Consolata offered everything for “her brother” priests and others consecrated to God who were in spiritual need. While working in the kitchen, she prayed continuously in her heart, “Jesus, Mary, I love you, save souls!” She consciously made every little service and duty into a sacrifice. Jesus said in this regard, “Your duties may be insignificant, but because you bring them to me with such love, I give them immeasurable value and shower them on the discontented brothers as grace for conversion.”

Very grave and difficult cases were often entrusted to the prayers of the convent. Consolata would take the corresponding suffering upon herself. For weeks or months on end she sometimes endured dryness of spirit, abandonment, meaninglessness, inner darkness, loneliness, doubt, and the sinful state of the priests.

She once wrote to her spiritual director during these struggles, “How much the brothers cost me!” Yet Jesus made her a magnificent promise, “Consolata, it is not only one brother that you will lead back to God, but all of them. I promise you, you will give me the brothers, one after another.” And so it was! She brought back all of the priests entrusted to her to a fulfilling priesthood. There are recorded testimonies of many of these cases. (Source)

One does not need to be a nun to offer every aspect of one’s life for the sanctification of God’s anointed ones. Anyone can pray and sacrifice for priests, which is why we began our prayer associations to allow those outside our cloister to join us in spirit before Our Lord in the Monstrance praying for His priests.

~ From previous post: Invitation to Join the Handmaids of the Precious Blood in Strengthening Priests ~

Invitation to Join the Handmaids of the Precious Blood in Strengthening Priests

2011-07-13T11:06:00.001-04:00

“In strengthening the priest you strengthen the whole Church....

Strengthen the priest and you strengthen the whole foundation,

you strengthen everything in the Church.”

“He who would truly honor the priesthood must do so by helping priests.
I would rather have a hand in getting one priest back to the altar of God
than to write a thousand books on the priesthood,
or to preach a million sermons on the glory of the priesthood,
for neither the sermons nor the books
can hold Christ in their hands and offer Him to the Father.”

~ Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P., Founder Handmaids of the Precious Blood ~

From Handmaids of the Precious Blood:

Our spirit is that of unbounded love of Jesus Christ in His Priests. All that we do, in union with and in imitation of the Precious Blood, is directed so that priests be holy priests. We offer ourselves in immolation and reparation for all priests, particularly for those who have lost sight of their sublime calling, praying for the grace of their conversion. We sacrifice our lives completely for the souls of priests, mindful of the vast numbers of souls just one priest can influence in his lifetime.

About our External Prayer Apostolates:

Did you know that since we began the Lay Associates of the Priesthood, we have registered more than 29,500 people who have adopted a particular priest to pray for? But currently there are over 40,000 priests in the United States and we need more volunteers willing to pray for them. Any practicing Catholic can send us their mailing address and be assigned their own priest to pray for daily.

We Invite Everyone to Join us in Strengthening the Priest

Lay Associates of the Priesthood

Lay Associates of the Priesthood spiritually adopt a priest to pray for anonymously by first name. The Association of lay men and women began in February of 1971 and it has since registered well over 29,500 members. There are no meetings, fees, or dues. Just daily prayer for a specific priest.

Confraternity of Mary, Mother of Priests

The Confraternity of Mary, Mother of Priests welcomes priests, religious, and deacons to also spiritually adopt their own priests. The Confraternity is structured similarly to the Lay Associates: no meetings, fees or dues. Just daily prayer for a specific priest.

Oblates of the Precious Blood

Begun under the guidance of the Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J. on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 21, 1981, the Oblates of the Precious Blood program was founded to allow priests, religious, deacons, and laity to more closely affiliate themselves with the mission and spirit of the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. Oblates of the Precious Blood bind themselves to our apostolate of prayer and sacrifice for priests by willingly committing themselves to lives completely dedicated to God, doing everything out of love for God and for the sanctification of priests. From their homes, their families, their work, their rectories, their dioceses, their missions, their hermitages, and their cloisters they reach out spiritually to priest souls in need, offering every joy and sorrow, all pain and suffering to God in love on behalf of priests. They dedicate themselves to learning the spirituality of our Founder, Father Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P. and give themselves in a lifelong resolution to live for God alone. Candidates undergo a formation period by correspondence conducted from our Motherhouse in New Mexico before making a private Solemn Resolution of Love. The Oblates are not a third order and members of third orders may apply for candidacy. World wide, there are at present over 420 Oblates of the Precious Blood.

~ For more information, go the the Handmaids of the Precious Blood website ~

St. Catherine of Siena: Priests Are the Anointed of the Lord

2011-07-12T19:19:00.000-04:00

"Take caution to see priests only as the dispensers of the Blood of the humble, Immaculate Lamb and overlook the faults you may see in them. A priest is a man and therefore fallible and capable of making mistakes, but this does not prevent him from being the Anointed of the Lord, marked forever with the indelible sign and having the power to consecrate the Body of Christ and administer the sacraments and to preach to the people in the name of God."

~ St. Catherine of Siena ~

Pope Benedict XVI: Recollections of 60 Years of Priestly Ministry

2011-06-29T11:33:00.002-04:00

"He grants me the almost frightening faculty to do what only he, the Son of God, can legitimately say and do: I forgive you your sins. He wants me – with his authority – to be able to speak, in his name (“I” forgive), words that are not merely words, but an action, changing something at the deepest level of being. I know that behind these words lies his suffering for us and on account of us. I know that forgiveness comes at a price: in his Passion he went deep down into the sordid darkness of our sins. He went down into the night of our guilt, for only thus can it be transformed. And by giving me authority to forgive sins, he lets me look down into the abyss of man, into the immensity of his suffering for us men, and this enables me to sense the immensity of his love. He confides in me: “No longer servants, but friends”. He entrusts to me the words of consecration in the Eucharist. He trusts me to proclaim his word, to explain it aright and to bring it to the people of today. He entrusts himself to me. “You are no longer servants, but friends”: these words bring great inner joy, but at the same time, they are so awe-inspiring that one can feel daunted as the decades go by amid so many experiences of one’s own frailty and his inexhaustible goodness."

"Sixty years of priestly ministry – dear friends, perhaps I have spoken for too long about this. But I felt prompted at this moment to look back upon the things that have left their mark on the last six decades. I felt prompted to address to you, to all priests and bishops and to the faithful of the Church, a word of hope and encouragement; a word that has matured in long experience of how good the Lord is. Above all, though, it is a time of thanksgiving: thanks to the Lord for the friendship that he has bestowed upon me and that he wishes to bestow upon us all. Thanks to the people who have formed and accompanied me. And all this includes the prayer that the Lord will one day welcome us in his goodness and invite us to contemplate his joy."

~ Pope Benedict XVI; excerpts from Homily 6/29/11 ~

Pope Benedict XVI: Significance of the Pallium Bestowed Upon Archbishops

2011-06-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

"The metropolitan archbishops appointed since the feast of Saints Peter and Paul last year are now going to receive the pallium. What does this mean? It may remind us in the first instance of Christ’s easy yoke that is laid upon us (cf. Mt 11:29f.). Christ’s yoke is identical with his friendship. It is a yoke of friendship and therefore “a sweet yoke”, but as such it is also a demanding yoke, one that forms us. It is the yoke of his will, which is a will of truth and love. For us, then, it is first and foremost the yoke of leading others to friendship with Christ and being available to others, caring for them as shepherds. This brings us to a further meaning of the pallium: it is woven from the wool of lambs blessed on the feast of Saint Agnes. Thus it reminds us of the Shepherd who himself became a lamb, out of love for us. It reminds us of Christ, who set out through the mountains and the deserts, in which his lamb, humanity, had strayed. It reminds us of him who took the lamb – humanity – me – upon his shoulders, in order to carry me home. It thus reminds us that we too, as shepherds in his service, are to carry others with us, taking them as it were upon our shoulders and bringing them to Christ. It reminds us that we are called to be shepherds of his flock, which always remains his and does not become ours. Finally the pallium also means quite concretely the communion of the shepherds of the Church with Peter and with his successors – it means that we must be shepherds for unity and in unity, and that it is only in the unity represented by Peter that we truly lead people to Christ."

~ Pope Benedict XVI; excerpt from Homily on 6/29/11 ~
~ Related posts about the pallium and about the wool used for the palliums here ~

Archbishop José Horacio Gómez from Los Angeles received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI during a ceremony in the Vatican. Other three American archbishops also received the pallium: Archbishop James Peter Sartain from Seattle; Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley from Oklahoma City; and Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, from San Antonio.

Among the 40 new archbishops, also Gerard Cyprien Lacroix, from Québec (Canada) received the pallium. The pallium is a garment used by archbishops as a sign of communion with the Pope.

The Work of the Priesthood of Christ--ToTransform the World With God's Love

2011-06-26T16:24:00.020-04:00

"Let us return in our meditation, to the Eucharist...In it, Jesus anticipated his Sacrifice, a non-ritual but a personal sacrifice. At the Last Supper his actions were prompted by that "eternal spirit" with which he was later to offer himself on the Cross (cf. Heb 9: 14). Giving thanks and blessing, Jesus transforms the bread and the wine. It is divine love that transforms them: the love with which Jesus accepts, in anticipation, to give the whole of himself for us. This love is nothing other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, who consecrates the bread and the wine and changes their substance into the Body and Blood of the Lord, making present in the Sacrament the same sacrifice that is fulfilled in a bloody way on the Cross. We may therefore conclude that Christ is a true and effective priest because he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he was filled with the whole fullness of God's love and precisely "in the night on which he was betrayed", precisely, "in the hour... of darkness" (cf. Lk 22: 53). It is this divine power, the same power that brought about the Incarnation of the Word, that transformed the extreme violence and extreme injustice into a supreme act of love and justice. This is the work of the priesthood of Christ which the Church inherited and extended in history, in the dual form of the common priesthood of the baptized and the ordained priesthood of ministers, in order to transform the world with God's love. Let us all, priests and faithful, nourish ourselves with the same Eucharist, let us all prostrate ourselves to adore it, because in it our Master and Lord is present, the true Body of the Jesus is present in it, the Victim and the Priest, the salvation of the world. Come let us exult with joyful songs! Come, let us adore him! Amen."

~ Pope Benedict XVI; excerpt from Homily on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, 2010 ~

Pope Benedict XVI: Corpus Christi Procession in the Streets of Rome

2011-06-26T06:45:00.000-04:00

“While Holy Thursday commemorates the mystery of Christ who gives us the bread and wine, today, on the feast of Corpus Christi, the same mystery is proposed to the People of God to worship Him and think about Him.”

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of al priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

A Catholic Eucharistic Flash Mob: "Come and Kneel Before Him Now"

2011-06-26T00:01:00.018-04:00

A Eucharistic flash mob in the centre of Preston, organised by the Capuchin Franciscans on Ascension Thursday 2011.

The Mystery of Christ Made Present in the Hands of His Priests

2011-06-25T19:02:00.000-04:00

"...in God's plan, Christ's gift of himself is made present in the Eucharist through that potestas sacra, which the sacrament of Orders confers upon you priests. When we celebrate Holy Mass we hold in our hands the Bread of Heaven, the Bread of God, which is Christ, the grain that breaks open in order to increase and to become the true food of life for the world. It is something that cannot but fill you with deep wonder, lively joy and immense gratitude: love and the gift of the Crucified and Glorious Christ now pass through your hands, your voice, your heart! It is an ever new experience of wonder to see that the Lord brings about this mystery of his Presence in my hands, in my voice!"

~ Pope Benedict XVI, homily at priestly ordination ~

Our Lady of Good Success Prophecies: Persecution of Priests; St. John Vianney

2011-06-22T21:20:00.000-04:00

“The Sacred Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and despised, for in this Sacrament, the Church of God and even God Himself is scorned and despised since He is represented in His priests. The demon will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests. This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous sufferings to the good Pastors of the Church, the many good priests…"

"How beloved are the priests of my Most Holy Son and myself. I am the tender Mother of priests, whom I venerate for their sublime mission and love most tenderly!"

"From the 19th century onward, priests should love with all their soul John Baptist Marie Vianney, a servant of mine whom Divine Goodness is preparing for those centuries as a exemplary model of the humble priest. He will not be from a noble family, so that the world will know and understand that in the eyes of God all that matters is profound virtue.

"This servant of mine, who will come to the world at the end of the 18th century, will love me with all his heart. By his words and deeds he will honor me and teach his companions to know and love me."

[Mother Marianna (1563-1635), St. John Vianney (1786-1859)]

~ Our Lady of Good Success to Venerable Mariana de Jesus Torres;

excerpts from The Admirable Life of Mother Marianna, Volume II by Fr. Manuel Sousa Pereira ~

~ Excellent DVD about Our Lady of Good Success available from ProMultis Media ~

~ Much more information about Our Lady of Good Success found here and here. ~

Bishop Rene Gracida: Golden Jubilee Homily

2011-06-21T17:41:00.000-04:00

"As the date, May 23, 2009, approached I was under increasing pressure from friends to permit them to organize a big celebration in observance of the 50th Anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Believe it or not, I am a shy person. Actually, I am an introvert. My Myers-Briggs personality profile is INFJ. It is only by the grace of God, given to me by the Holy Spirit, that I am able to summon the courage to speak before large gatherings. I nearly died of stage fright when, at Cardinal Deardon’s invitation, I gave the homily at the Mass for Youth in 1976 before 10,000 people just a few years after my Episcopal ordination.

"So, in 2009 I resisted all efforts to make my Jubilee an occasion of some big public show such as a banquet or even a Mass. Yet, I did want to give thanks to God in a celebration of a public Mass. So, on Saturday, May 23, 2009, I called the Rector of Corpus Christi Cathedral and asked him if he would permit me to celebrate the regular 9:30 parish Mass the next morning. He readily agreed and so I did appear unannounced and celebrated that Mass as my Jubilee Mass. The YouTube video shows the homily of the Mass. I have written this so that you will understand the bewilderment of the congregation when I announced in my homily that it was my Jubilee Mass."

~ Bishop Gracida, from his blog ~

Lest You Be Judged: Praying for Priests Instead of Judging Them

2011-06-20T21:34:00.002-04:00

"...you ought to pray for them.

But you are not to judge them.

Leave the judging to me,

and I, because of your prayers and my own desire, will be merciful to them."

~ God the Father to St. Catherine of Sienna concerning his priest sons ~

"Reading some of the comments on his blog I am appalled at the viciousness of some of them. It is obvious that there is very little if any love in the hearts of some of the writers. It is almost as though some of those writers are filled with hatred for the Catholic Church and/or its priests. It is possible to disagree about almost anything without resorting to ad hominem personal attacks."

~ Bishop Rene Gracida; excerpt from A Few Thoughts on Fr. Corapi's Announcement Yesterday ~

"From the email I am receiving and a few blogs I have read reacting to Fr. Corapi’s video message, it strikes me that a lot of people are doing neither themselves nor Fr. Corapi any good. Charity requires us to consider the good of others. I can’t see how the way some people are talking about Fr. Corapi does anyone any good."

"The enemy hates priests and bishops. Let me say that again. The enemy hates priests and bishops. When priests and bishops start making inroads, they will be attacked with intensity.

"But priests and bishops remain men and remain sinners. We need the support of prayers especially regarding the primary goal of saving our souls. We must, for the love of God, help each other.

"I will keep Fr. Corapi on my prayer list, and will remember him in a special way, hoping that through the help of the Holy Spirit, who bends the rigid and heals the broken and consoles those who are in pain, he will have some peace whether he is able to return to active ministry or not, whether he wants to or not. He is a priest forever and he is my brother in that indelible mark received from Christ the High priest. And because he is a priest forever, the devil will not relent in attacking him until he dies. Nor will the devil relent in attacking anyone who has authority over him.

"It is what we signed up for, but sometimes it can be very hard.

"Please remember, please, that all priests are human beings and subject to the afflictions of the world the flesh and the devil. If you look at them in some other way, you do them and yourselves a disservice.

"In these difficult times, when we are seeing the lion and hearing the lion roaring around even more, I ask for your prayers for myself and for all the priests you know, whether they are in active ministry or they are for whatever reason not active, whether they have been exemplary according to how you think they ought to be, or whether they have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences.

"They have immortal souls and they, like you dear lay people, are working out their eternal salvation with fear and trembling with the additional burden of knowing that they will be priests forever, in heaven or in hell. Ask St. John Vianney for help. And, since St. “Padre” Pio has been on my mind with increasing frequency lately, perhaps ask him as well."

~ Fr. John Zuhlsdorf; excerpt from About Fr. Corapi with observations about our times ~

Fr. John Corapi: Introduction of "The Black Sheep Dog"

2011-06-18T11:45:00.004-04:00

Uploaded by TheBlackSheepdog1 on Jun 17, 2011:

Fr. John Corapi's much anticipated announcement, proclaiming the introduction of "The Black SheepDog." Within this announcement is an update regarding the most-recent accusations, his response, his mission, as well as his gratitude for all who have supported his priesthood. For more information please visit his blog-site: www.TheBlackSheepDog.us ! As always, God Love You, and God Bless You!

6/23/11: Comments will no longer be published for this post.
If you wish to express your opinion, I suggest you do it directly to Fr. Corapi here.

IT IS TIME TO PRAY FOR FATHER CORAPI AND FOR THOSE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN HIS SITUATION! LET US NOT WASTE TIME ON WHAT WILL NOT HELP SOLVE ANYTHING: GOSSIP, OPINIONS, SUPPOSITIONS, CRITICISMS, RASH JUDGMENTS AND LACK OF RESPECT FOR FATHER CORAPI AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFERING OPINIONS ON THIS ISSUE ARE RAMPANT. THE DEGREE OF VITRIOL FROM MANY OF THOSE WHO ARE WRITING ABOUT AND TO FATHER CORAPI IS SCANDALOUS AND DISHEARTENING. THANK GOD THAT HE IS OUR JUDGE--AND NOT OUR FELLOW CATHOLICS!

Related post added 6/23/2011: Lest You Be Judged: Pray for Priests Instead of Judging Them ~

Rite of Ordination to the Catholic Priesthood

2011-06-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

"Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy than to celebrate Mass each day

and to serve God's people in the Church.

That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest.

Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

~ Blessed Pope John Paul II ~

"Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass."

~ Sign on the sacristy wall of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Basilica in Emmitsburg, Md. ~

~ Rite of Ordination to the Priesthood--explanation and pictures ~

To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood

2011-06-14T18:12:00.000-04:00

"There's an old expression in the Catholic Church...'He who saves a priest saves a thousand souls'. It means that if a priest is in trouble, maybe thinking of leaving active ministry, and someone is able to get him back and strengthen him, they save a thousand souls. And actually it's an understatement because the active diocesan priest, any priest, affects hundreds of thousands of souls in his life as a priest."

"The priesthood brings the love and forgiveness of Jesus to earth. That's what priests do."

"I think sometimes we pray for an apple--we should be praying for an orchard. This is a new springtime of Christianity, and I really believe that Jesus wants us to fill up every seminary in the nation."

~ Fr. Brett A. Brannen, Vice Rector of Mount St. Mary Seminary,

Author of To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood ~

~ Order Fr. Brannen's book here. ~

Fr. Joseph Muzquiz: Boston Archdiocese Opens Cause for Opus Dei Priest

2011-06-10T09:30:00.062-04:00

José Luis Múzquiz de Miguel was born in 1912, in Badajoz, Spain. While studying engineering in Madrid in 1934, he met St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Responding to God’s call, he joined Opus Dei in 1940. Until his ordination as a priest, he worked as a civil engineer building bridges and railroad stations for the Spain’s national railroad system. He would eventually obtain three doctorates: Civil Engineering, History and Canon Law.

In 1949 Father Joseph and a young Spanish physicist, Salvador Ferigle, came to the United States to start Opus Dei’s apostolic work. They began in Chicago and within ten years had also established centers in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boston and Washington. He also helped start Opus Dei’s work in Japan and Canada.

In the late 1950s, he traveled extensively, laying the groundwork for Opus Dei’s beginnings in Asia. He subsequently worked in Rome, Switzerland and Spain, and then in 1976 he returned to the United States. He resided in Boston from 1981 until his death on June 21, 1983. He is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Brookline, MA.

The Servant of God, Father Joseph Muzquiz

Prayer for Private Devotion

God, you helped your servant Joseph work with generosity and simplicity. He spread the message of sanctity in secular life to many people, teaching them to find joy and peace in their daily life. Help me to seek first the kingdom of God, by sanctifying my everyday work and dedicating myself generously to the salvation of souls. Glorify your servant Joseph, and through his intercession, grant me the favor I ask of you.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

~ Excerpt and prayer from Opus Dei ~

Putting Down Roots by John Coverdale (author of Uncommon Faith) is the exciting story of the beginnings of Opus Dei in the U.S. It tells how Fr. Joseph Muzquiz came to America in 1949 to begin Opus Dei with very little money and only a rudimentary command of the language. At the time, only a handful of Americans had ever heard of Opus Dei. But by the time he passed away in 1983, Opus Dei had put down deep roots in this country.

In Putting Down Roots, we learn many remarkable details about Fr. Joseph’s life including:

• His first meeting with St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei.

• His tireless efforts, first as a layman, then as a priest, to spread Opus Dei in Spain during the 1940s.

• His remarkable faith beginning Opus Dei with Salvador Ferigle in the U.S. with no money, few contacts, and a very rudimentary command of English.

• The many heroic virtues he lived, earning him a reputation as an unusually holy priest.

Today, many people in the United States and in other countries pray to Fr. Joseph, as he was called in this country, and hope that one day the Church will declare him a saint. This book explains why.

Putting Down Roots contains eight pages of photos.

Fr. Robert Barron: It's a Great Time to Be a Priest

2011-06-03T09:28:00.000-04:00

"This is the time, I think, for all of us involved with the Church to be part of the solution;

and that's an exciting time."

~ Fr. Robert Barron ~

Pope Benedict XVI: June 2011 Prayer Intention for Priests

2011-06-01T10:41:00.000-04:00

Jesus, Eternal High Priest, let your love flow into the hearts of your priests and transform them into living images of you. By your grace, make them true apostles of your Sacred Heart. Fulfill the promise you made to St. Margaret Mary: "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts." May your Kingdom come to the hearts of all through the ministry of holy priests! Amen.

~ From Apostleship of Prayer, #180

Contribute to Prayer Gift for Pope Benedict XVI's 60th Anniversary of Ordination: Eucharistic Adoration for Sanctification of the Clergy and for Priestly Vocations

2011-05-31T10:21:00.011-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI’s 60th Anniversary of Ordination June 29

The pope will celebrate his anniversary June 29, the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul. In honor of his anniversary, the Vatican Congregation for Clergy suggested Catholic clergy and faithful be invited to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the intention of praying for the sanctification of the clergy and for the gift of new and holy priestly vocations.

Dioceses nationwide are planning special prayers before the Blessed Sacrament in June, offered continuously or across various days in the month.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, highlighted the importance of this celebration.

“An increase in number and sanctity of the priests in service to our dioceses is a sign of health and vitality in the Church,” he said. Prayer for vocations is “a worthy intention” and an appropriate spiritual sacrifice “in gratitude for the example and service of Pope Benedict XVI,” he wrote in a May 17 letter to bishops.

“This is an exceptional opportunity to give thanks for our Holy Father, to pray for all of our priests, and to ask the Lord for more vocations to the priesthood,” said Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis, chairman for the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “The Holy Father has been an outstanding model of priestly ministry and service to the Church. In his Message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Proposing Vocations in the Local Church, he reminded the faithful that we all have a responsibility to pray for vocations. This is a great opportunity to do just that.” (Source)

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Lord Jesus we come into your Eucharistic presence to thank you for the life and priestly vocation of Pope Benedict XVI. Bless him and his ministry as your Vicar and the Successor of St. Peter. Sanctify all your priests and configure them to your Sacred and Priestly Heart. Give to your Church new and holy priests, who will imitate your divine love and shepherd your people with care. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Source)

Prayer to St. Joseph for Priests: Console Them in Their Pains

2011-05-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

O illustrious Patriarch St. Joseph,

who carried the Infant Jesus in thy blessed arms and who,

during the space of thirty years,

lived in the most intimate familiarity with Him,

take under thy powerful protection those whom He has clothed with His authority

and honored with the dignity of His priesthood,

whom He has charged to continue His mission,

to preach His Gospel,

and to dispense everywhere His graces and blessings.

Sustain them in their fatigues and labors;

console them in their pains;

fortify them in their combats;

but above all, keep far from them all the evils of sin.

Obtain for them the humility of St. John the Baptist,

the faith of St. Peter,

the purity of St. John

and the spirit of prayer and recollection

of which thou, my dear Saint, art the model,

so that, after having been on earth,

the faithful dispensers of the Mysteries of thy foster Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,

they may in Heaven receive the recompense promised to pastors according to the Heart of God.

Amen.

Video uploaded by RealCatholicTV on May 24, 2011

Postulator Discusses the Cause of Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

2011-05-21T10:27:00.000-04:00

"There is no greater profession of faith possible for a human being to make here on earth

than during prayer before the Holy Eucharist;

so we ask, why should prayer before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament
be so powerful in obtaining miracles of conversion--

is because it is prayer rising from faith in the cardinal mystery of Christianity."

~ Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. ~

Prayer for the Beatification and Canonization of Father John Hardon

Almighty God, You gave Your servant,
Father John Anthony Hardon of the Society of Jesus,
the grace of religious and priestly consecration after the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Through Father Hardon,
You provided for your Flock an extraordinary teacher of the faith.

You entrusted Father Hardon into the loving
care of the Blessed Virgin Mary
whose counsel, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5)
he faithfully followed and whose intercession he unceasingly invoked.

If it be Your holy will, please grant the request I now make,
calling upon the help of Father Hardon,
so that his heroic sanctity may be recognized in the whole Church.

I ask this through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
with You and the Holy Spirit, is one God forever and ever.
Amen.

~ Source: official website for Fr. Hardon ~

St. Pio & Fr. Bill Casey: The Awesome Reality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

2011-05-20T10:28:00.000-04:00

"Renew your faith by attending Holy Mass.

Keep your mind focused on the mystery that is unfolding before your eyes.

In your mind's eye transport yourself to Calvary and meditate on the Victim

who offers Himself to Divine Justice, paying the price of your redemption."

"If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice,

we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass."

~ Saint Padre Pio ~

St. Pio and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Hanging on the Cross With Jesus

2011-05-16T17:49:00.000-04:00

"...when I celebrate Holy Mass I am not standing, but hanging on the cross together with Jesus, and I suffer inadequately all that Jesus suffered on the Cross, as much as is possible for a human creature. The Lord has deigned to associate me with the great work of human redemption, and this despite my every demerit, and only because of His supreme goodness."

~ St. Padre Pio ~

Blessed Alexandrina da Costa: Loving Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

2011-05-09T20:18:00.000-04:00

"Keep Me company in the Blessed Sacrament. I remain in the tabernacle night and day, waiting to give my love and grace to all who would visit Me. But so few come. I am so abandoned, so lonely, so offended...Many men do not believe that I live in the tabernacle. They curse Me. Others believe, but do not love Me and do not visit Me; they live as if I were not there."

"Like Mary Magdalene, you have chosen the better part. You have chosen to love Me in the tabernacles where you can contemplate Me, not with the eyes of the body, but with those of the soul. I am truly present there as in Heaven--Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity...I do not stay in this world only for love of those who love Me, but for everyone..."

~ Jesus to Blessed Alexandrina da Costa; excerpt from here ~

Our Lord pleads for Eucharistic Reparation. An excerpt from the full-length documentary on Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004 and has been proposed by the universal church as a patron for the youth. Blessed Alexandrina's great love of Our Lord's Real Presence in the Eucharist is very relevant for today.

~ Related post on Blessed Alexandrina and the Power of Sacrifice for a Priest ~

~ Related post from Venite Adoremus Dominum ~

Oblate Sisters of Christ Priest: Prayer and Sacrifice for Priests and Seminarians

2011-05-05T18:42:00.000-04:00

Many people think that contemplative life belongs to the ancient times: Carmelites, Franciscans, Jesuits… they all have a long history within Church. Nevertheless, God, not only continues to call many others to a total and exclusive dedication but, He also continues to entrust some persons with the high mission of founding new communities according to the needs of his Church. That was the case of José María García Lahiguera and Maria del Carmen Hidalgo de Caviedes y Gómez, a bishop and a young lady who lived in the Spanish XX century.

20 July 1936. Spanish Civil War. A 23 years-old young lady is praying at the church of Capuchins before the celebration of the Holy Mass. Bombing at the "Barracks de la Montaña", Madrid. Bombs, explosions; in view of an imminent threat, the nuns try to find their chaplain all over the place so that they can go to confession. The young lady is seeking the priest but she is not able to find him. Right then, she strongly understands the vital role of priests within the Church, their irreplaceable mission of reaching souls in God’s plan of salvation. In front of the temple’s altar that looked threatening to fall down, this young lady, inspired by the Holy Spirit, offered her life to God for the priests. That young lady was named MªCarmen Hidalgo de Caviedes y Gómez.

Just a few months before (9 March 1936), José María García Lahiguera -Spiritual Director of the Minor Seminary- writes in his spiritual notes:

"And as sanctity is an act from grace, and this is reachable through prayer, there is an urgent and imperative need to embark on a crusade “Pro Sacerdotio” based on prayer and sacrifice. (…). But, since we are talking about something permanent and stable as priesthood is, the sacrifice for their sanctity has to be uninterrupted; this is not reachable if work is addressed or encourages only one person. I do think that it is necessary to pray to our Lord in order to determine whether it is convenient to start to think about the foundation of a religious cloistered order of nuns, whose main aim -not to say exclusive- shall be prayer and sacrifice for youth and seminarians and, whose distinctive shall be: the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; public, official and solemn offering (...) to be victims for priests and seminarians." (Free translation)

***

“The soul of the Oblate shall go beyond the wall of her monastery and cut through the seas until the last corner in earth with the same love as Christ is present, with His same Redemptory Love...And that lost missionary, unknown in his mission; that unappreciated priest; other who is in danger; the one who is full of expectations but without opportunities; (…) All that world of priests, man among men, segregated to be another Christ where He may deposit His own power. What does the Heart of Christ feel? He made them “another He” and only Christ shall be their life and exigency...They have to be in the world but being of God; they have to give themselves to the souls keeping their permanence only in God. That world of danger, fight, difficulties, temptation, pressure, undefined road….”

~ Mother María del Carmen ~

~ All text from the Oblate Sisters of Christ Priest website)

Blessed John Paul II: Eucharistic Adoration in the Life of St. Jose Maria Rubio

2011-05-04T16:39:00.000-04:00

"The most important aspect of the apostolate for Fr Rubio was prayer; adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was the centre of his entire life. The love of Christ was what Fr Rubio wanted to give to the poor. For him and his collaborators, prayer came first, and it was through this intense prayer life that they received the strength to minister in the poorest and most abbandoned areas of Madrid and to assist the people spiritually."

~ Excerpt from Homily of Blessed John Paul II ~

"Are you truly making an effort to adore God? In this Sacred Host lies the whole of His omnipotence, all His wisdom, the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ, since therein rests His living heart as it is also in heaven. When we adore in this way, we adore in spirit and in truth." (Source)

~ St. Jose Maria Rubio, S.J. ~

Beatification of Pope John Paul II

2011-05-01T23:40:00.001-04:00

"Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the giftof having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a 'rock', as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist." (From VIS)

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of his Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Bishop Alexander Sample: In the Wake of Scandal--Transformation and Renewal

2011-04-26T19:14:00.000-04:00

"A lot of young men looked at what was happening to the priesthood through the scandals, looked at what was happening to the Church, and somehow felt a deep call to come forward and to be part of a transformation, a renewal, bringing about a completely new age for the Church, a new Pentecost."

~ Bishop Alexander Sample ~

Pope John Paul II: The Road to Sainthood

2011-04-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

To declare John Paul II a blessed, the pope has not taken the easy road. Those in charge of investigating the “Life and Miracles” had to meticulously document the facts showing that he was a saint. The process included the questioning of 114 people, those who were both for and against the beatification.

The group was made up of 35 cardinals, 20 bishops, 11 priests, 5 religious, 3 nuns and 36 lay Catholics, 3 non-Catholics and one Jew. Each one answered 129 questions. Among them were several heads of state and politicians, 2 Orthodox patriarchs, the Anglican primate and a representative from the Jewish community.

There was also a team of six historians that spent 16 months carefully recreating his life as a priest and pope. Conclusions were drawn up in three volumes of text that Vatican experts revised before proposing the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

Pope Benedict XVI: Consoled by Our Prayers

2011-04-22T17:41:00.001-04:00

“Dear friends, it is a great consolation for the Pope to know that at each Eucharistic celebration everyone prays for him, and that our prayer is joined to the Lord’s prayer for Peter. Only by the prayer of the Lord and of the Church can the Pope fulfil his task of strengthening his brethren...”

~ Pope Benedict XVI; excerpt from Holy Thursday Homily on April 21, 2011 ~

Please consider making a commitment to pray a monthly Rosary (or more) for Pope Benedict
at Rosary for the Bishop.

Pope Benedict XVI: The Joy and Challenge of Being a Priestly People

2011-04-21T13:22:00.000-04:00

"Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. When we speak of this task in which we share by virtue of our baptism, it is no reason to boast. It poses a question to us that makes us both joyful and anxious: are we truly God’s shrine in and for the world? Do we open up the pathway to God for others or do we rather conceal it? Have not we – the people of God – become to a large extent a people of unbelief and distance from God? Is it perhaps the case that the West, the heartlands of Christianity, are tired of their faith, bored by their history and culture, and no longer wish to know faith in Jesus Christ? We have reason to cry out at this time to God: “Do not allow us to become a ‘non-people’! Make us recognize you again! Truly, you have anointed us with your love, you have poured out your Holy Spirit upon us. Grant that the power of your Spirit may become newly effective in us, so that we may bear joyful witness to your message!

"For all the shame we feel over our failings, we must not forget that today too there are radiant examples of faith, people who give hope to the world through their faith and love. When Pope John Paul II is beatified on 1 May, we shall think of him, with hearts full of thankfulness, as a great witness to God and to Jesus Christ in our day, as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Alongside him, we think of the many people he beatified and canonized, who give us the certainty that even today God’s promise and commission do not fall on deaf ears.

"I turn finally to you, dear brothers in the priestly ministry. Holy Thursday is in a special way our day. At the hour of the last Supper, the Lord instituted the new Testament priesthood. “Sanctify them in the truth” (Jn 17:17), he prayed to the Father, for the Apostles and for priests of all times. With great gratitude for the vocation and with humility for all our shortcomings, we renew at this hour our “yes” to the Lord’s call: yes, I want to be intimately united to the Lord Jesus, in self-denial, driven on by the love of Christ. Amen."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Chrism Mass Homily, April 21, 2011 ~

St. Polydore Plasden: Priest Martyr and Protector of the Eucharist

2011-04-20T10:19:00.000-04:00

One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, Saint Polydore Plasden was just 28 years old when he was hanged at Tyburn Gallows, London in 1591 for his Catholic priesthood. According to the law in England at that time (Statute 27 Elizabeth) it was illegal to be a Catholic priest in England. It was also against the law to pray the Rosary, attend Mass and light devotional candles etc... When he was captured at the home of fellow Martyr Swithun Wells, Fr. Polydore refused to renounce his Catholic Faith or accept the Queen of England as the head of the Church, even when he was subjected to fierce and barbaric tortures. At Tyburn, Sir Walter Raleigh fought for a reprieve for him but in the end insisted that he must be allowed to hang until dead before the butchery was carried out upon the priest's body.

Saint Polydore Plasden is a great patron for the Blessed Sacrament and defence of the Real Presence - he was arrested during a secret Mass and due to his concern for the Blessed Sacrament and his fear that the Eucharist might be subjected to sacrilege, Fr. Polydore gave his word that he, Fr. Edmund Gennings and those recusants hearing Mass would freely surrender should Mass be permitted to conclude. The infamous Richard Topcliffe knew that Fr. Polydore would keep his word and agreed so as to be able to take them away quietly.

- this is a trailer for a... film on Saint Polydore Plasden who was a 28 year old priest hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn Gallows in 1591 because he defended the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Sir Wlater Raliegh fought for his life at the gallows but managed to assure he was dead before he was disembowelled. The greatest threat to mankind is the loss of belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Learn how one of the least known English Martyrs of the Reformation gave his life to protect every single fragment of the Holy Eucharist and is a powerful witness for today. More information at http://www.marysdowryproductions.org/

St. Alphonsus Liguori: "Like Pastor, Like Parish"

2011-04-19T16:45:00.000-04:00

"The good morals and salvation of the people depend on good pastors.

If there is a good priest in charge of the parish,

you will soon see devotion flourishing,

people frequenting the Sacraments,

and honoring the practice of mental prayer.
Hence the proverb:

'Like pastor, like parish': Qualis pastor, talis parochia.

According to this word of Ecclesiasticus (x:2)

Those who dwell in the state, take after their ruler.'

Qualis est rector civitatis tales et in habitantes in ea."

~ St. Alphonsus Liguori ~

Please pray for the sanctification of priests.

Pope St. Pius X: Fruitful Ministry of Holy Priests

2011-04-13T06:46:00.018-04:00

There is, indeed, only one thing that unites man to God, one thing that makes him pleasing to God and a not unworthy dispenser of his mercy; and that one thing is holiness of life and conduct. If this holiness, which is the true supereminent knowledge of Jesus Christ, is wanting in the priest, then everything is wanting. Without this, even the resources of profound learning (which we strive to promote among the clergy), or exceptional competence in practical affairs, though they may bring some benefit to the Church or to individuals, are not infrequently the cause of deplorable damage to them.

On the other hand, there is abundant evidence from every age that even the humblest priest, provided his life has the adornment of overflowing sanctity, can undertake and accomplish marvelous works for the spiritual welfare of the people of God; an outstanding example in recent times is John Baptist Vianney, a model pastor of souls, to whom we are happy to have decreed the honors of the Blessed in heaven.[37]

Sanctity alone makes us what our divine vocation demands, men crucified to the world and to whom the world has been crucified, men walking in newness of life who, in the words of St. Paul, show themselves as ministers of God in labors, in vigils, in fasting, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere charity, in the word of truth;[38] men who seek only heavenly things and strive by every means to lead others to them.

~ Pope St. Pius X; excerpt from Haerent Animo ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

"Cristiada" Movie Trailer: A Chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929)

2011-04-12T16:29:00.000-04:00

Cuajimalpa, Mexico, Apr 8, 2011 / 06:16 am (CNA).- The director of the upcoming movie “Cristiada” describes his film about the armed resistance against the attempt to secularize Mexico by force in the 1920s as an inspiring tale of faith and religious freedom.

“Our film follows the stories of five ordinary people from across the country who chose to stand up for their rights,” director Dean Wright told CNA on April 4. “Ultimately, once they found themselves in this little civil war, they had to decide what they were willing to do and how far they were willing to go to stand up for freedom.” (Continuation of the article by CNA )

Details of Preparations for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II

2011-04-08T10:53:00.000-04:00

O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit , to shine through him.

Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

Pope John Paul II & Fr. Arellano: Priest Penitents and Ministers of Penance

2011-04-05T18:19:00.000-04:00

"...The priest's celebration of the eucharist and administration of the other sacraments, his pastoral zeal, his relationship with the faithful his communion with his brother priests, his collaboration with his bishop, his life of prayer-in a word, the whole of his priestly existence, suffers an inexorable decline if by negligence or for some other reason he fails to receive the sacrament of penance at regular intervals and in a spirit of genuine faith and devotion. If a priest were no longer to go to confession or properly confess his sins, his priestly being and his priestly action would feel its effects very soon and this would also be noticed by the community of which he was the pastor.

"But I also add that even in order to be a good and effective minister of penance the priest needs to have recourse to the source of grace and holiness present in this sacrament. We priests, on the basis of our personal experience, can certainly say that the more careful we are to receive the sacrament of penance and to approach it frequently and with good dispositions, the better we fulfill our own ministry as confessors and ensure that our penitents benefit from it. And on the other hand, this ministry would lose much of its effectiveness if in some way we were to stop being good penitents. Such is the internal logic of this great sacrament. It invites all of us priests of Christ to pay renewed attention to our personal confession.

"Personal experience in its turn becomes and must become today an incentive for the diligent, regular, patient and fervent exercise of the sacred ministry of penance, to which we are committed by the very fact of our priesthood and our vocation as pastors and servants of our brothers and sisters. Also with this present exhortation I therefore address an earnest invitation to all the priests of the world, especially to my brothers in the episcopacy and to pastors of souls, an invitation to make every effort to encourage the faithful to make use of this sacrament. I urge them to use all possible and suitable means to ensure that the greatest possible number of our brothers and sisters receive the "grace that has been given to us" through penance for the reconciliation of every soul and of the whole world with God in Christ."

~ Pope John Paul II; excerpt from Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, December 2, 1984 ~

Fr.George Byers Establishes Holy Souls Hermitage: A Priest Helping Priests

2011-04-04T18:13:00.001-04:00

"My vocation has always been marked with a concern for the sanctification of priests, which is what led me to teach in seminaries right around the world.

"Holy Souls Hermitage is no different. Prayer and adoration and sacrifice is offered for the sake of the sanctification of bishops and priests in the purgatory of this life and the next."

~ Fr. George Byers, Father of Mercy, excerpt from Holy Souls Hermitage ~

Thanks to Spiritual Mothers of Priests for reporting information learned from Mulier Fortis about a Father of Mercy and his new way of life as a hermit.

Fathers of Mercy Vocations Video

The Consecrated and Holy Hands of Catholic Priests

2011-03-31T20:37:00.000-04:00

“O wonderful dignity of the priests,” cries out St. Augustine;

“in their hands, as in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.”

~ From The Dignity and Duties of the Priest by St. Alphonsus Liguori ~

~ Related post: The Beautiful Hands of a Priest ~

Film About St. Josemaria Escriva: "There Be Dragons" Coming Soon

2011-03-28T18:42:00.000-04:00

“This film served to remind me of the thousands of priests, from years past but also the current generation, they spend their lives with joy in the service of souls, in the service of society.”

~ Bishop Javier Echevarrí, Prelate of Opus Dei ~

Fr. P. Josef Moreno: Discourse to Priests on Devotion to Saint Joseph

2011-03-24T17:51:00.000-04:00

"To you I now turn, venerable Ministers of the Altar, Priests of the Most High, wise dispensers of the Blood of Jesus Christ, and entreat you to execute the command which God has given to you, by the mouth of a great king : 'Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you'.(1) And, since one of the most illustrious Doctors who have flourished in the schools assures us that St. Joseph must be regarded as the exemplar of all those who held any considerable position in the Church, (2) you cannot excuse yourselves from choosing him as the object of your particular devotion. You, then, I conjure who so often touch the Body of Jesus Christ, love this saint, who was the first of all men who had the honour to receive the Saviour into his hands. You, who sacrifice Jesus on the altar during the Divine Mysteries, venerate this saint, who may glory in having offered to the Eternal Father the first-fruits of the Adorable Blood of the Incarnate Word in His Circumcision. Consider Jesus on the altar lying on the sacred corporal, as Joseph contemplated Him in the Crib wrapped in His poor swaddling-bands; bear this Man-God through the streets of our cities, and to the houses of the sick, but let it ever be with the same sentiments of piety with which St. Joseph was animated when he held Him in his arms during the journeys he made. Finally, distribute to the faithful this Divine Saviour hidden under the appearance of bread, but endeavour at the same time to do this with all the reverence wherewith St. Joseph presented Him to the shepherds who came to adore Him." (3)

1 Gen. xli. 55. 2 Albert the Great, in Lucam, cap. i. 3 Fr. P. Josef Moreno, Diicurso viii.

~ Fr. P. Josef Moreno ~
Excerpt from The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A.

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Falsely Accused Priests: Diabolical Attacks Against Jesus Christ and His Church

2011-03-23T12:28:00.004-04:00

“When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest,

because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice,

and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.”

~ St. Jean Vianney, Patron Saint of Priests ~

"An accusation leveled at a priest is a horrible thing, because it is nearly impossible today for a priest to have a fair hearing. There is no perfect justice or charity in this world, but these days falsely-accused priests don’t get anything like even the world’s “justice”. But even when priests are guilty of that by which they are accused, it doesn’t surprise me that priests are sinners or in the worst cases commit bad crimes. Yes, priests and bishops should be held to high standards. After all, even the devil holds them to high standards. The devil hates priests and works tirelessly to trip them. Holy Orders doesn’t make a man less human. Should I be surprised that priests are sinners? I am a sinner.

"The bottom line is that you cannot depend on the personal holiness of priests or bishops for your own personal holiness. The only true Holy One is the Lord."

~ Fr. John Zuhlsdorf , excerpt from here ~

~ Father Corapi, A Call for Prayer ~

~ Father Corapi: Convicted Already? Updated! ~

"As God is my witness, I swear as I swore on a Bible before the diocesan officials, these allegations are totally and completely untrue. My mind and my soul are bruised, beaten and trampled down. My parishioners are most supportive but I am not permitted to visit them and I cannot afford to call them by telephone. My health is not good and I had avoided many appointments with my doctors. This past Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the worst emotionally devastating events I have ever had to endure. I was close to suicide. I suffer panic attacks, acute anxiety and severe depression. Worst of all, there is nobody that can really understand or share this onerous burden that I bear."

~ Father 'John' (not true identity), excerpt from Was Priest Falsely Accused? ~

~ Media Coverage of Opus Bono Sacerdotii ~

~ When Priests are Falsely Accused by Fr. Gordon MacRae ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Consecration of Holy Mass: The Supernatural Powers of the Ministerial Priesthood

2011-03-22T18:11:00.000-04:00

Who is the one who prepares the Holy Eucharist for us and gives Our Lord to us? It is the priest. If there were no priests, there would be no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, nor Holy Communion, nor the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle.

And who is the priest? He is the "man of God" (2 Tim. 3:17). It is God alone who chooses him and calls him from among men for a very special task. "No man takes the honor to himself; he takes it who is called by God, as Aaron was" (Heb. 5:4). God sets him apart from everyone else "to preach the Gospel of God" (Rom. 1:1). God signs him with a sacred character that will endure forever, making him "a priest forever" (Heb. 5:6) and bestowing on him the supernatural powers of the ministerial priesthood so that he is consecrated exclusively for the things of God. The priest, being "taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Heb. 5:1-2).

~ From Jesus Our Eucharistic Love by Fr. Stefano Manelli ~

Archbishop Timothy Dolan: Preserving the Timeless Heritage of the Church

2011-03-21T16:50:00.000-04:00

"I would bristle at being termed right wing. But if somebody means enthusiastically committed and grateful for the timeless heritage of the church, and feeling that my best service is when I try to preserve that and pass that on in its fullness and beauty and radiance, I'm a conservative, no doubt."

"I don't wanna see changes in the church when it comes to celibacy or women priests or our clear teaching about the sanctity of human life and the unity of marriage between one man and one woman forever. I'd love to see changes in the church in the very area that you're hinting at over and over again, in the perception of the church as some shrill scold. We need to change that."

~ Archbishop Timothy Dolan, excerpt from CBS News ~

Prayer to St. Joseph for Priests

2011-03-19T16:35:00.000-04:00

Blessed Joseph, you both saved and served the Word of God,

and the Living Bread come down from heaven.

Look down upon the priests of the Church,

which had its origins in the household over which you presided,

and pray for them that they, too, serve perseveringly the people entrusted to their care.

May priests teach the people faithfully the Word of God,

and break for them daily the Bread of Life.

May they strengthen them in faith and in hope,

console them in hardship and disappointment;

and pray to your Jesus to crown their service of Him on earth

with eternal life with Him in the happiness of heaven for ever.

Amen.

Source: the booklet "Devotions to Saint Joseph" by Brian Moore, S.J.,

printed and published by the Society of St. Paul.

Our Lady of Akita, Japan: Pray the Rosary for the Pope, Bishops and Priests

2011-03-18T12:18:00.000-04:00

"Pray very much for the Pope, Bishops, and Priests. Since your Baptism you have always prayed faithfully for them. Continue to pray very much… very much."

"Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops, and the priests."

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their conferees…churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromise and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them."

~ Our Lady of Akita to Sr. Agnes ~

PRAYER OF THE HANDMAIDS OF THE EUCHARIST

"Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist,

I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart,

being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father,

pleading for the coming of His Kingdom.

Please receive this humble offering of myself.

Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls.

Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from your Divine Son.

Please defend and protect me as your special child.

Amen."

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Servant of God Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz: Strength from the Holy Eucharist

2011-03-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

"Our strength to love and to serve others comes from the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life "

~ Servant of God Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz ~

In 1989, he was diagnosed to have a terminal illness. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He accepted with it with joy, serenity and courage, and regarded it as a gift from God. In spite of his deteriorating health, he established Boystown and Girlstown in Mexico, which he called his "unfinished symphony".

With humility, courage, and unwavering faith, he suffered and accepted a lot of humiliations, criticisms, pains, incredible trials, and difficulties. He did his best to relieve the suffering of the poor. His illness made him immobile, still even on a wheelchair, he continued to fulfill his duties with joy. He spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament, praying the rosary, hearing confessions, and preaching in words and examples the virtues of truth, justice, chastity, charity and humility, penance and fortitude. His love for God and the poor consumed him. He did not only help the poor but also he lived poorly. (Source)

Father Al died at 7:00 pm, Monday, March 16, 1992, in his room on the 7th Floor of the Manila Girlstown building. His body remained in a temporary tomb from March 25, 1992, until June 21, 1992, and then he was buried under the altar of the Chapel of the Virgin of the Poor built in Silang Boystown complex.

Upon his instruction, the words written on the plaque placed on the tomb read as follows:

"Here lies Father Al Schwartz. All praise honor

and glory and thanksgiving to the Virgin of the Poor."

The following prayer is being used around the world, asking Father Al to intercede with God for the petitions of those who need a miracle.

Almighty, ever-living God, giver of all good gifts, You have filled Father Al with an ardent love for You and for souls.

You have inspired him to dedicate his life to relieve the suffering of the orphans, abandoned, the sick and the poor, especially the youth, which he did with all humility and courage until the end of his life.

I ask you to bestow upon me, through the intercession of Father Al:

(Tell God, through Father Al, the favor that you request.)

I ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, and the maternal aid of Mary, the Virgin of the Poor. Amen.

~ For source of prayer and information, click here. ~

Cardinal Piacenza: The Importance of Eucharistic Adoration

2011-03-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

"We cannot overestimate the importance of adoring the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, knowing that worship is the highest act of the People of God and an effective means toward promoting the sanctification of the Clergy, reparation for sin, and vocations to the Priesthood and to the Consecrated Life. With courage, we must ask the Lord to send forth new laborers into the harvest, and in every diocese there should be at least one church, chapel, or shrine set aside for perpetual adoration of the Eucharist, specifically for the intention of the promotion of new vocations and for the sanctification of the Clergy."

~ Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, excerpt from Vultus Christi ~

Pope Benedict XVI and Others in Defense of Pope Pius XII

2011-03-10T14:11:00.000-05:00

“At the present time, we have new, clever people who say that, while he did save many lives, he had old-fashioned ideas about Jews that fall short of Vatican II (the 1962-65 Church Council). But that is not the question. The decisive thing is what he did and what he tried to do, and on that score we really must acknowledge, I believe, that he was one of the great righteous men and that he saved more Jews than anyone else.”

~ Pope Benedict XVI,

from Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times by Peter Seewald ~

Saint John Eudes: Characteristics of a Worthy Priest

2011-03-08T18:13:00.001-05:00

"The worthy priest is an angel of purity in mind and body,

a cherub of light and knowledge,

a seraph of love and Charity,

an apostle of zeal in work and sanctity,

a little god on earth in power and authority, in patience and benignity.

He is the living image of Christ in this world,

of Christ watching, praying, preaching, catechizing, working, weeping,

going from town to town, from village to village,

suffering, agonizing,

sacrificing Himself and dying for the souls created to His image and likeness...

He is the light of those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

He is the destroyer of error, schisms and heresies,

the converter of sinners,

the sanctifier of the just,

the strength of the weak,

the consolation of the afflicted,

the treasure of the poor.

He is the confusion of hell,

the glory of heaven,

the terror of demons,

the joy of angels,

the ruin of Satan's kingdom,

the establishment of Christ's empire,

the ornament of the Church..."

~ Saint John Eudes ~

~ Saint John Eudes, pray for priests and pray for the souls entrusted to their care. ~

Blessed Pope John XXIII: A Video of Quotes and Pictures

2011-03-07T18:34:00.000-05:00

"It often happens that I wake at night,

begin to think about a serious problem and decide

I must tell the pope about it.

Then I wake up completely and remember I am the pope."

~ Pope John XXIII

Pope John Paul II, Bishop Xavier Novell, and World Youth Day

2011-03-06T21:14:00.000-05:00

"There are many priests, seminarians and consecrated persons here today; be close to them and support them! And if, in the depths of your hearts, you feel the same call to the priesthood or consecrated life, do not be afraid to follow Christ on the royal road of the cross! At difficult moments in the Church's life, the pursuit of holiness becomes even more urgent. And holiness is not a question of age: It is a matter of living in the Holy Spirit, just as Kateri Tekawitha and so many other young people have done. You are young and the Pope is old and a bit tired. But he still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young.

"Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son."

Celebrating Catholic Priests

2011-03-04T18:05:00.001-05:00

“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.

~ St. Jean Vianney ~

Pope John Paul II: The Priestly Vocation--A Call to Sanctity

2011-03-02T09:51:00.000-05:00

"The priestly vocation is essentially a call to sanctity,

in the form that derives from the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Sanctity is intimacy with God;

it is the imitation of Christ, poor, chaste and humble;

it is unreserved love for souls and self-giving to their true good;

it is love for the church which is holy and wants us to be holy,

because such is the mission that Christ has entrusted to it.

Each one of you must be holy also

in order to help your brothers pursue their vocation to sanctity."

~ Pope John Paul II ~

Pope Benedict XVI: Answering Christ's Call to Priesthood

2011-03-01T20:50:00.000-05:00

“Do not be afraid to give your life to Christ!

Nothing will ever replace the ministry of priests at the heart of the Church!

Nothing will ever replace a Mass for the salvation of the world!

Dear young and not so young who are listening to me,

do not leave Christ's call unanswered.”

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

St. Jean Vianney: The Challenges of His Vocation to the Priesthood

2011-02-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

Fr. Galen Bank speaks about St. John Vianney's role in the Church, his Spirituality and the challenge of the Priesthood to become another Christ. He talks about his struggle to become a priest, his own mentor, his holiness, and his astounding gift in the confessional that transformed his parish and the universal church. St. John Vianney, Curé of Ars, is the patron saint of priests (especially honoured during the 'Year for Priests').

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to odffer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, for Priests in Purgatory, and for Vocations

2011-02-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

"If the faithful love Me, if they want to glorify Me as is their duty of love, nothing can be greater for them to do for Me than what they do for My priests, which is as they would have done for Me Myself..."

"The mission of faithful souls lasts, to free priests from that place of purification, to gain for Me the joy of seeing them finally in the bosom of my glory. This will be an act of charity for them and a joy that they will give Me."

~ Jesus to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida ~

Excerpted Introduction from the book Praying for Our Priests:

There can be no more fruitful investment in the life of Holy Mother Church than time spent in prayer for Her priests and vocations to the priesthood. This project had its origin in the early days of 2006 when Monsignor Peter Dunne, recovering from a long and critical illness, experienced a deepening awareness of the need to pray for his brother priests in Purgatory. (emphasis mine)

At the same time, Vicki Herout, his longtime caregiver, spiritual daughter, and coworker in many projects, began to realize in her own prayers an intense and persistent call to pray for the priesthood. Eventually, they brought together a group that has continued to meet regularly to pray for priests. This booklet, initially compiled as an aid to this prayer group, has been adapted for use by individuals as well as small and large groups in a variety of settings.

The meditations on the priesthood that you will read in this booklet came out of the hearts and prayers of the authors – out of the heart of Monsignor Dunne who has loved and lived his priesthood to the fullest for sixty-five years – and out of the many months his coauthor spent praying, meditating and writing before the Blessed Sacrament. These prayers are meant for all to pray – priests, religious and laity – but they are written with the special purpose of providing insights into the life of a priest and into the mystery of the priesthood itself that will awaken and encourage in the laity a desire to pray for priests and for holy vocations.

As this booklet is about to be published, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has announced a special ‘Year for Priests’, emphasizing the centrality of Christ in the “…priestly ministry, without which there would be no Eucharist, no mission, not even the Church.” The Holy Father, in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations in May, 2009, also stressed that “…prayer for vocations should be continuous and trusting.” Dear readers, just as we believe that there is no more fruitful investment in the life of the Church than prayer for Her priests, so we believe that one of the many fruits of a holy priesthood is vocations. We pray that this booklet will be an aid to those who will answer the Holy Father’s call to prayer – throughout the year and beyond.

~ Excerpted from page 4 of Praying for Our Priests. ~

~ Previous posts on Charity for Faithful Departed Priests ~

Pope Benedict XVI: "I Entrust Myself to Your Prayers."

2011-02-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

"After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.

"The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

"Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you."

FIRST GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica

Tuesday, 19 April 2005

St. John Eudes and Pope Benedict XVI: The Blessing of Saintly Shepherds

2011-02-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

"One of the basic characteristics of a shepherd must be to love the people entrusted to him, even as he loves Christ whom he serves. “Feed my sheep”, says Christ to Peter, and now, at this moment, he says it to me as well. Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his presence, which he gives us in the Blessed Sacrament. My dear friends – at this moment I can only say: pray for me, that I may learn to love the Lord more and more. Pray for me, that I may learn to love his flock more and more – in other words, you, the holy Church, each one of you and all of you together. Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves. Let us pray for one another, that the Lord will carry us and that we will learn to carry one another."

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

"The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally. Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness....

"When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His most dreadful anger upon them. That is why He cries unceasingly to Christians, 'Return, O ye revolting children...and I will give you pastors according to my own heart' (Jer. 3, 14-15) Thus, irregularities in the lives of priests constitute a scourge upon the people in consequence of sin.

"On the other hand, the greatest effect of God's mercy, the most precious grace He bestows upon mankind, is to send worthy priests, men after His own heart, seeking only His glory and the salvation of souls. The greatest blessing that God bestows upon a church, the most single manifestation of divine grace, is to have a saintly shepherd, be he bishop or priest. This is indeed a grace of graces and the most priceless of all gifts for it includes within itself every other blessing and grace. What is a priest after God's heart? He is an inestimable treasure containing an immensity of good things.....

"The [holy] priest is a sun cheering the world by his presence and bearing. He brings heavenly blessings into every heart. He dispels the ignorance and darkness of error and radiates on every side bright beams of celestial light. He extinguishes sin and gives life and grace to the multitudes. He imparts new life to the weak, inflames the lukewarm, fires most ardently those who are aglow with the sacred flame of divine love...."

~ St. John Eudes ~

PLEASE PRAY DAILY FOR OUR HOLY FATHER AND ALL BISHOPS AND PRIESTS!

Vatican University Studying How to Improve Training of Seminarians

2011-02-16T18:40:00.000-05:00

The increase in the number of men determined to become priests opens many new challenges. The main one is how to prepare them for their vocation, a task for the bishop of each diocese and the directors of the seminaries. Trying to help them is the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross which has created a specialized center to help “train the trainers.” (from Rome Reports)

Msgr. Juan Carlos Dominguez

Rector, International Seminar “Sedes Sapientiae” (Rome)

“This is the raw material: youth, with the same background of people of their age, with a desire to be holy priests, eager to serve the Church and souls. As a trainer, I've spent almost 30 years training seminary priests, we have to help shape this raw material. It is the Holy Spirit who shows the way and we try to interfere as little as possible.”

“You have to help them in the human formation, and the intellectual formation, to know the doctrine of the Church, Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law. We also help them in liturgical matters, to understand the true meaning of the liturgy, we aid them in the pastoral field. The most important thing, because it's the basis for all others, is to help them to pray.”

Msgr. Salvatore di Cristina

Bishop of Monreale (Italy)

“The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, and can give his life in many ways. The important thing is to give their life: the total gift of themselves, which is something we do not learn in books or studies, but according to the excellent model of Jesus Christ.”

Please Pray for Seminarian Philip Johnson: His Inspiring and Powerful Witness

2011-02-14T17:50:00.000-05:00

"On October 15, 2008, after two years as an officer in the Navy, my life changed when I was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Putting my concerns in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary and my trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that I may be faithful to the Holy Catholic Faith and serve the Church for the rest of my life."

~ Philip Johnson ~

~ Prayers requested for Philip Johnson: Vocare Blog ~

~ Philip Gerard Johnson's blog: In Caritate Non Ficta ~

~ Novena prayer for Philip Johnson ~

~ Video found at Roman Catholic Vocations ~

Pope John Paul II: The Courage to Follow Christ

2011-02-13T20:20:00.003-05:00

"Being a Christian has never been easy, nor is it easy today.

Following Christ demands the courage of radical choices,

which often means going against the stream.

"We are Christ!", St Augustine exclaimed.

The martyrs and witnesses of faith yesterday and today,

including many lay faithful, show that,

if necessary, we must not hesitate to give even our lives for Jesus Christ."

~ Pope John Paul II, November 26, 2000 ~

Pope Benedict XVI: Responsibility to Promote Vocations in the Local Church

2011-02-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

"The work of carefully encouraging and supporting vocations finds a radiant source of inspiration in those places in the Gospel where Jesus calls His disciples to follow Him and trains them with love and care. ... Before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in prayer, listening to the will of the Father. ... Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life are first and foremost the fruit of constant contact with the living God and insistent prayer lifted up to the 'Lord of the harvest', whether in parish communities, in Christian families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations."

"At the beginning of His public life, the Lord called some fishermen on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'. ... It is a challenging and uplifting invitation that Jesus addresses to those to Whom He says: 'Follow me!'. He invites them to become His friends, to listen attentively to His word and to live with Him. He teaches them complete commitment to God and to the extension of His kingdom in accordance with the law of the Gospel. ... He invites them to leave behind their own narrow agenda and their notions of self-fulfilment in order to immerse themselves in another will, the will of God, and to be guided by it. He gives them an experience of fraternity, one born of that total openness to God which becomes the hallmark of the community of Jesus".

"It is no less challenging to follow Christ today. It means learning to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to Him, listening to His word and encountering Him in the Sacraments; it means learning to conform our will to His. This requires a genuine school of formation for all those who would prepare themselves for the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life under the guidance of the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not fail to call people at every stage of life to share in His mission and to serve the Church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life".

"Particularly in these times, when the voice of the Lord seems to be drowned out by 'other voices' and His invitation to follow Him by the gift of one's own life may seem too difficult, every Christian community, every member of the Church, needs consciously to feel responsibility for promoting vocations. It is important to encourage and support those who show clear signs of a call to priestly life and religious consecration, and to enable them to feel the warmth of the whole community as they respond 'yes' to God and the Church. I encourage them, in the same words which I addressed to those who have already chosen to enter the seminary".

"It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and attentive to the pastoral care of vocations, helping children and young people in particular at every level of family, parish and associations - as Jesus did with His disciples - to grow into a genuine and affectionate friendship with the Lord, cultivated through personal and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity with the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen attentively and fruitfully to the word of God; to understand that entering into God's will does not crush or destroy a person, but instead leads to the discovery of the deepest truth about ourselves; and finally to be generous and fraternal in relationships with others, since it is only in being open to the love of God that we discover true joy and the fulfilment of our aspirations".

"The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church. With trust and perseverance let us invoke the aid of the Virgin Mary, that by the example of her own acceptance of God's saving plan and her powerful intercession, every community will be more and more open to saying 'yes' to the Lord Who is constantly calling new labourers to His harvest".

~ Pope Benedict XVI: excerpt from VIS ~

Msgr. Morgan Rowsome: A Healing at Lourdes, Priesthood, A Grotto in Texas

2011-02-11T10:12:00.000-05:00

After a serious illness in 1961 which hospitalized me for three months and after having been told by doctors that I would not live very long and would never be healthy enough to become a priest, some friends gave my mother and I the gift of tickets to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. Like so many pilgrims, I took the bath in the holy water which started flowing when Mary appeared to Bernadette in 1858. I believe I had a healing which gave me back my health and allowed me to study of the priesthood, and the rest is history.

Needless to say, I am grateful to Our Lady of Lourdes and have returned to the Grotto many times. In 2001, I led a pilgrimage of over 30 people from our parish to Ireland and Lourdes. While celebrating Mass close to where Mary appeared to Bernadette, I seemed to hear a “small voice” saying: “Not everyone can come to Lourdes – why don’t you bring Lourdes to the people?”

~ Msgr. Morgan Rowsome; excerpt from his parish website ~

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O ever Immaculate Virgin Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comfort of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my suffering, deign to cast upon me a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors; and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, the granting of my requests. Through gratitude for favors, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues that I may one day share your glory. Amen. (Source)

Jesuit Martyrs of Virginia

2011-02-09T19:08:00.000-05:00

In 2002, the Diocese of Richmond opened the cause for the canonization of the Spanish Jesuit Martyrs of Virginia. This has renewed interest in the fascinating, almost fantastic, tale of a lost Spanish colony in Virginia and the men who died trying to convert the Ajacan Indians. In 1571, Fr. Segura and his seven companions were killed by hostile tribesmen at the St. Mary's mission sited on Virginia's Lower Peninsula, near the Chesapeake Bay. This was close to the spot where the English would permanently settle just thirty years later. Fr. Russell E. Smith is the postulator for the martyrs' canonization and a judge with the diocesan tribunal. Fr. Smith learned about the Jesuit settlement while growing up in historic Williamsburg, Virginia and as a priest he took up the matter with the postulator general for the Society of Jesus, in Rome. The Virginia Historical Society and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities have also lent their scholarly support for evidence of the Spanish mission. Meanwhile, the Richmond diocese has designated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in New Kent County as the new Shrine of the Jesuit Martyrs.

~ Matthew M. Anger: excerpt from Spanish Martyrs for Virginia ~

Seminarian Frank Parater: A Life Consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2011-02-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

“I have nothing to leave or give but my life

and this I have consecrated to the Sacred Heart to be used as He wills.

I have offered my all for the conversion of non-Catholics in Virginia.

This is what I live for and in case of my death what I die for.

Since my childhood, I wanted to die for God and my neighbor.

But if I go on living, every action of my life here is offered to God

for the spread and the success of the Catholic Church of Virginia.

I shall be of more service to my diocese in heaven than I can ever be here on earth.”

~ Servant of God Francis J. Parater ~

Loving Father, your servant Frank Parater sought perfection as a student, scout and seminarian.

He offered himself to you completely through the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Through his intercession,

may young people answer your call to follow Jesus as priests, deacons and religious.

Grant, as well, the favors I seek,

so that your Church will recognize his holiness and proclaim him Blessed.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Imprimatur:

+Walter F. Sullivan

Bishop of Richmond

~ Related post: Francis J. Parater, Servant of God ~

~ More information about Servant of God Francis J. Parater from the Diocese of Richmond ~

Prayer for Priests

2011-02-05T11:11:00.000-05:00

Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify Thy priests.

0 Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us; obtain for us many and holy priests.

St. John Bosco and Venerable Margaret Bosco: A Mother's Love for her Sons

2011-02-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

"You are now a priest, and you celebrate Mass. You are, therefore, closer to Jesus Christ. But remember that to begin to say Mass is to begin to suffer. You will not become aware of this immediately, but little by little you will realize that your mother was right. I am sure that you will pray for me every day, whether I be still living or dead, and that is enough for me. From now on you must think only of saving souls; never worry about me."

~ Venerable Margaret Bosco ~

By this time, Margaret's other son, Joseph, was married and had children, and Margaret was very happy living in the Becchi house. Besides, she was enjoying the grandchildren. Life was indeed good.

In the meantime, Don Bosco had begun his work with the homeless and the working boys. He had recovered from a devastating illness which nearly brought him to an early grave. When he had regained his strength, he realized he had to have the help of some discreet, experienced woman, to whom he could confide the care of his humble home and youngsters at the youth center.

Thus, one day Don Bosco took her aside and said, " Mother, I've decided to go back to Turin to my beloved boys, but since I can no longer stay at the Rifugio of the Marchioness Barolo, I need a housekeeper. This presents another problem, because the place where I will live at Valdocco is morally dangerous on account of certain people close by, and I am worried about the situation. I need someone with me who can vouch for me morally and forestall any malicious rumor. You are the only person who can do it. Would you be willing to come and live with me?"

At this unexpected suggestion, Margaret spent a few minutes in thought, and then replied, "My dear son, you have no idea how sorry I am to leave this house, your brother, and everyone else whom I hold so dear, but if you think that this would please the Lord, then I am ready to go."

Margaret was going to live with her son, not for comfort or recreation, but to share with him privations and sufferings on behalf of several hundred poor, abandoned boys. She was not going because she was lured by money, but because of her love for God and for souls. She knew that the portion of the sacred ministry chosen by her son, far from bringing him any financial gain, would drain him of his own resources and later force him to seek alms. But such considerations did not stop her.

In agreement with his mother, Don Bosco arranged for the sale of some pieces of land and vineyards that they still owned in their native village. Margaret also sent for her bridal trousseau, which she had carefully preserved: dresses, ring, earrings, necklaces. When the trousseau arrived, she sold part of it and used the rest to make vestments for the chapel, which was very poorly furnished. Several of her dresses were turned into chasubles, while her linen provided the material for albs, surplices, purificators, and altarcloths. The money from the sale of Margaret's necklaces helped to buy gold braid and trimmings for the sacred vestments.

It was a real sacrifice to part with these things, but when talking about it later, Margaret said, "When I looked at those things for the last time and was about to sell them or convert them to something else, I felt a little disturbed, but as soon as I became aware of it, I told myself, 'Come now, what better use could they possibly have than providing food and clothing for poor boys, and honoring the heavenly Bridegroom in church?' Afterwards I felt so happy that if I had a hundred trousseaus, I would have given them all up without any regrets."

After the boarding school was well under way, the boys began to call Margaret "Mamma." It stuck. She cooked, mended, made shirts, underwear, and socks. It was her special pride to see her boys properly dressed during the week and especially on Sundays. She made time to teach them good manners and peaceful family living. Whenever the boys needed anything, they turned to her, and if possible, she always satisfied them. She couldn't have done more had they been her own children.

In later years, as soon as the first boy aspiring to the priesthood donned his cassock and was given some authority, Margaret at once regarded him as a superior and refrained from giving him advice, reprimands and orders. In a word, she behaved as a humble subject. Yet the young cleric respectfully continued to call her "Mamma."

When she was about to be anointed, she said to Don Bosco, "When you were little, I prepared you for confession and Communion. Now it's your turn to help your mother to receive the Sacraments worthily."

~ Excerpts from A Valiant Mother by Phillip J. Pascucci, S.D.B. ~

Prayer for the Canonization of Mamma Margaret

God our Father,

we thank you

for making Mamma Margaret

a strong and wise woman,

a heroic mother

and a wise educator.

Give us the joy of seeing her

raised to the honour of the altars

so that all may

imitate her way of holiness,

lived as daily and humble

service of her neighbor.

Through her intercession

grant us the grace

we request with a trusting heart.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priests, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

St John Bosco, Priest: A Life Given for the Salvation of Souls

2011-01-31T14:54:00.002-05:00

"Priest at the altar,

priest in the confessional,

priest among my boys,

and priest in the king's palace or his ministers' offices:

I will be nothing but a priest."

~ St. John Bosco ~

Venerable Margaret Bosco to her son John:

"To see you with the cassock fills my heart with joy. But remember that the habit is not what gives honor to the state, but the practice of virtue. If at any time you should come to doubt of your vocation, I beseech you to lay it aside at once; I would rather have a poor peasant for my son than a negligent priest. When you came into the world I consecrated you to our Lady; when you began to study, I bade you honor her and have recourse to her in all your difficulties; now I beg you to take her for your Queen."

~ From Don Bosco, Seeker of Souls by Msgr. Paul E. Campbell ~

Seminarian Declared Dead Recovers to Tell of Visions of Cardinal Van Thuan

2011-01-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

"The late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement, has left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, from Spe Salvi ~

Doctors said Joseph Nguyen was dead. His heart rate was dropping beyond recovery, and all brain activity was gone. But while they wrote his death certificate, Joseph's parents were asking an old family friend for help: a Vietnamese cardinal who is being considered for beatification.

Joseph Nguyen has since re-enrolled in seminary. He's seen his own death certificate, now stamped “VOID.” He has only two memories of the 32-day coma, which he says felt otherwise like a “great night's sleep.”

During the weeks that he hovered between life and death in 2009, Joseph says he had two encounters with Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.

“During my coma, there are only two things I remember,” he said. “The only two things I remember are two visions of Cardinal Van Thuan … He appeared to me twice.”

Joseph said he not only saw, but actually met and spoke with Cardinal Van Thuan, during two vivid incidents he described as a “separation of soul and body.” Although he said he couldn't reveal the details of the ecounters, he did say that he suspected that they occurred while his doctors were observing his loss of brain activity and decline in vital signs.

Joseph recalled that his experiences in the coma instilled “the virtue of hope” in his heart, giving him a message he hopes to share with those in desperate circumstances. “That's Cardinal Van Thuan in my life,” the future priest reflected.

~ Excerpts from here ~

~ Related posts about Cardinal Van Thuan ~

Life at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary

2011-01-26T19:52:00.000-05:00

The Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right canonically established by Pope John Paul II in 1988. The particular charism and mission of the Fraternity is to offer the Sacred Liturgy, including the Holy Mass and the Divine Office, as well as the sacraments, in all of their traditional solemnity, according to the Latin liturgical books of 1962. The Fraternity's name denotes our thanksgiving, filial love, and loyalty to the supreme Pontiff, who encourages our growth, as well as the brotherly unity in Christ which our priests strive to have characterized in their life and work.

Five seminarians will receive Subdiaconate and one other will Tonsure on Saturday, January 29th. Please keep these men in your prayers as that day approaches.

~ Excerpts from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary website ~

Transformation of Priests into Christ-Victim

2011-01-25T19:15:00.001-05:00

"...sacrifice is one of the culminating points and is the base for transformation into Me who was a Victim from the very moment of My Incarnation on to My death.

"To be acceptable to My Father, a victim must be pure and sacrificed. My entire life is reduced to this beautiful work which synthesizes the essence of the Christian and even more that of the priest: immolation! I was voluntarily immolated on earth and I continue this life of immolation on the altars.

"I came into the world to sanctify suffering and to take away its bitterness. I came to bring about love of the cross, and the most perfect transformation into Me must be brought about by loving suffering, by painful love.

"Thus then, a priest who wants to assimilate himself to Me as is his obligation, must love sacrifice, must aspire to voluntary immolation, by devoting himself, by renouncing his own self and sacrificing himself constantly on behalf of souls.

"Priests means one who offers himself and offers, who immolates himself and immolates.

"Priests must love the cross and be in love with Me crucified. I am their model" (Diary, Jan. 1, 1928).

"The Holy Spirit inspired My death on the Cross. This death was the work of infinite love toward My Father and toward souls, but with so noble a purpose as to associate very especially to My Cross, to a life of sacrifice, all My future priests, who on being other Christs, making themselves one with Me would have to perpetuate My Sacrifice in themselves and on the altars to honor My Father, offering themselves and Me as one sole Victim pure and holy who would glorify Him" (Diary, Dec. 12, 1931).

~ Jesus to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida,

from Conchita, A Mother's Spiritual Diary ~

Pope John Paul II and the Miraculous Healing of Sr. Marie Simon Pierre

2011-01-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

"The commitment of holiness entails austerity of life,
serious control of one's desires and choices,
a constant commitment to prayer,
and an attitude of obedience and docility to the directives of the Church,
both in the doctrinal, moral, or pedagogical sphere."

~ Pope John Paul II ~
Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

Fr. Nelson Baker Declared Venerable

2011-01-22T20:54:00.001-05:00

~ More information about Venerable Fr. Nelson Baker ~

~ Related post about Fr. Baker ~

Pope Benedict Blesses Lambs Whose Wool Will be Used for Palliums

2011-01-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

VATICAN CITY, 21 JAN 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Apostolic Palace, following a centuries-old tradition, Benedict XVI blessed several lambs whose wool will be used to make the palliums bestowed on new metropolitan archbishops on the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles.

In a 1978 document, "Inter Eximina Episcopalis," Pope Paul VI restricted use of the pallium to the Pope and to metropolitan archbishops. In 1984 John Paul II decreed that the pallium would be conferred on the metropolitans on 29 June.

The custom of blessing the lambs takes place every year on the 21 January liturgical memory of St. Agnes, a virgin who suffered martyrdom about the year 305 and whose symbol is a lamb. She is buried in the basilica named after her on the Via Nomentana in Rome, and it is there that the lambs are taken after the papal blessing.

The lambs are raised by the Trappist Fathers of the Abbey of the Three Fountains and the palliums are made by the Sisters of St. Cecelia from the

newly-shorn wool.

Mother Teresa Casini: A League of Priests to Make Amends for Unfaithful Priests

2011-01-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

"I will make the priestly spirit blossom in those dioceses where there is a small nucleus of priests to console my heart, to satisfy the justice of my divine Father, and to make amends for the harm done to souls by their unfaithful shepherds. According to their fervor I will unite them to my heart, filling them with charity and apostolic zeal; I will bless their undertakings and give them the grace to penetrate souls with the unction of their words and lead their brothers back to my heart. I will be their support in life, in temptation, and in spiritual conflict, and I will be near at the time of death; I will comfort them and unite them to my infinite love."

"I desire a League of Priests united in the single purpose of charity to offer themselves with Me as victims of expiation to My Divine Father, for those of the clergy unfaithful to their sublime vocation."

~ Jesus to Mother Maria Teresa Casini, Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart ~

"On December 8, 1884 the Divine Redeemer manifested Himself again to me. He showed me His pierced Heart and asked me to share in His suffering so that I might console Him. Then He added '... this pain is inflicted on my Heart by those priests who, forgetful of their sacred character, offend my heavenly Father with their infidelity.'"

"These desires of the Heart of Jesus remained impressed on my heart, nor could time erase them. I understand clearly that every priest, "ex officio" is a victim with Christ; but I have always felt that a league of priests who, over and above the call of duty, could become Victims of Expiation in union with the Heart of Christ for their unfortunate brother priests, would be most compatible with their priestly character of victimhood; the Heart of Christ would be satisfied; and He would pour into these priestly souls His merciful graces. Many times these graces are held back precisely because such graces are not granted except at the high cost of sacrifices of expiation. If only there were a small group of such priests in every diocese according to the desire of the Heart of Christ, certainly priests would return to their former fervor and persevere. In my heart there was the constant conviction that the desires of the Divine Redeemer would be fulfilled. How? When? By whom? I do not know, nor do I desire to know. " (Source of quotes)

~ Mother Maria Teresa Casini ~

Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Lives Offered for Priests

2011-01-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

"Give Me holy priests."

~ Jesus to Venerable Mother Maria Teresa Casini ~

Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were founded by Mother Teresa Casini in Grottaferrata, Italy on February 2, 1894. They are women who strive to attain union with God by offering their lives for the diocesan priesthood. Their special charism is both spiritual and ministerial. The sisters are called first of all to pray for priestly holiness and to offer the joys and sorrows of their lives for the good of priests. Ministerially, the sisters care for retired and convalescent priests and collaborate with them in parish ministry which includes teaching, directing religious education, hospital visitation and distribution of the Eucharist to the homebound. (Source)

Memories of Pope John Paul II

2011-01-17T22:26:00.002-05:00

“Our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic adoration in order that our love may be complete. … Our essential commitment in life is to preserve and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the climate of the Holy Eucharist.”

~ Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man ~

Beatification of Pope John Paul II Scheduled for May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday

2011-01-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

"I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest. Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question. Let me try briefly to reply. I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely. For it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God? Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: 'Come, follow me!' There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest.

"And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

~ Venerable Pope John Paul II, Los Angeles, USA, September 14, 1987 ~

Final Days Before Announcement of Beatification Date for Pope John Paul II

2011-01-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

The beatification of John Paul II is just one step away. The cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have approved a miracle through the intercession of John Paul II. This is the necessary step before the Pope convenes the beatification.

Benedict XVI will meet in the coming days with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, for final approval of the miracle and the announcement date of the beatification.

The miracle is the instant and unexplainable healing of the French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who suffered from a form of Parkinson's. The disease forced her to retire from her duties as a nurse in the maternity hospital of Arles, France. In June 2005, after praying to John Paul II for an improvement in her disease, the Parkinson's totally disappeared. ( From Rome Reports)

Pope John Paul II: Thank God for Vocations and Pray for Those Being Called

2011-01-11T11:49:00.000-05:00

I invite you all to pray for those young people who, throughout the world, hear the call of the Lord and for those who may be afraid to answer that call. May they find educators at hand to guide them! May they perceive the grandeur of their vocation: to love Christ above all else as a call to freedom and happiness! Pray so that the Church may help you in your search and in arriving at a correct discernment! Pray so that Christian communities may always know how to pass on the call of the Lord to the younger generations! With me, thank the Lord "for the gift of a vocation, for the grace of priesthood, for priestly vocations throughout the world" (Gift and Mystery, 10)! Let us thank him for consecrated persons! Let us thank him for families, parishes and movements, the cradles of vocations!

~ Pope John Paul II, Paris 1997 ~

Prayer for Holy Catholic Priests

2011-01-10T17:47:00.000-05:00

Lord Jesus, we pray to you for the Catholic priesthood. Give us more priests, but most especially we ask you to give us holy priests. Messengers of a truth that is all-encompassing and eternal, holy priests who know how to offer this truth to the people of their own time and place. Holy men for today, priests firmly rooted in the tradition, yet imbued with the spirit of this age. They have undertaken a mission in your name, Lord. May the reflection of your power in them always make it clear that they are your witnesses.

Grant that they may conform their lives to the paschal mystery that they celebrate each day in the Eucharist. May they sense in this mystery the anxious hunger of the world and of their own brothers and sisters for salvation.

May they know, despite this hunger, how to respect the spiritual freedom of others; for it is your word which has given the world a taste for this freedom. May they understand and speak the language of their own time. And may they be careful never to compromise, with opinions that come and go, the imperishable newness of your Gospel.

May they always keep through the dark wintry night of the soul an obstinate hope for the springtime to come. And when they meet those who persecute you, may they always remember the road to Damascus and the hidden ways of your providence.

~ This prayer and many more prayers for vocations from the USCCB ~

What Catholics Can Do to Promote Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

2011-01-09T20:49:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON—The Catholic Church celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week January 10-16. To encourage Catholics to foster vocations, Father David Toups, interim director of the Office of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers “Ten Things” Catholics can do to promote vocations to priesthood and religious life.

The first five steps on this list are directed toward all Catholics. The second five are specifically an invitation to younger Catholics to consider saying “yes” to a religious vocation. The list follows:

Ten Things That Promote Vocations

By Father David Toups

For all Catholics:

1. Pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Jesus says in Matthew 9:38 “to beg the master of the harvest to send laborers into the vineyard.” If we want more priests, sisters and brothers, we all need to ask.

2. Teach young people how to pray. Pope Benedict XVI said that unless we teach our youth how to pray, they will never hear God calling them into a deeper relationship with Him and into the discipleship of the Church.

3. Invite active young adults and teens to consider a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. A simple, sincere comment should not be underestimated. An easy way to do this can be remembered by four letters: ICNU. “John, I see in you (ICNU) the qualities that would make a good priest, and I want to encourage you to pray about it.” It is a non-invasive way to encourage openness to a religious vocation.

4. Make it attractive. Show the priesthood for what it truly is – a call to be a spiritual father to the whole family of faith. Similarly, the consecrated life for a young woman is a call to be united to Christ in a unique way, and to be a spiritual mother to those she encounters in her life and service. The challenge for priests and religious is to be joyful models of their vocations.

5. Preach it, brother! Vocations must be talked about regularly if a “vocation culture” is to take root in parishes and homes. This means, first and foremost, the people need to hear about vocations from priests through homilies, prayers of the faithful, and discussions in the classroom. Vocations kept out of sight are out of mind.

For those considering a vocation:

6. Practice the faith. We all need to be reminded that the whole point of our lives is to grow in a deep, intimate and loving relationship with God. This is the first step for any young person desiring to discern any call in life.

7. Enter into the Silence. Silence is key to sanity and wholeness. We can only “hear” the voice of God if we are quiet. Take out the ear buds of your iPhone, iPod, and iTunes and listen to God, the great I AM. Young people should try to spend 15 minutes of quiet prayer each day – this is where you can begin to receive clear direction in your lives.

8. Be a good disciple. Some bishops say, “We do not have a vocation crisis; we have a discipleship crisis.” Young people can become true followers of Jesus Christ by serving those around them. By discovering your call to discipleship, you also discover your particular call within the Church.

9. Ask God. Ask God what He wants for your life and know He only wants what is good for you. If, in fact, you are called to the priesthood or consecrated life, it will be the path to great joy and contentment.

10. In the immortal words of a famous sneaker manufacturer: “Just do it!” If you feel that God is inviting you to “try it out,” apply to the seminary or religious order. Remember, the seminary or convent is a place of discernment. You will not be ordained or asked to profess vows for many years, providing ample opportunity to explore the possibility of a call to priesthood or religious life. (Source: USCCB)

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Priests

2011-01-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

Remember, 0 most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord. Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You.

Pope John Paul II: God Promises the Church Shepherds "After His Own Heart"

2011-01-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

...The entire People of God should pray and work tirelessly for priestly vocations. Candidates for the priesthood should prepare themselves very conscientiously to welcome God's gift and put it into practice, knowing that the Church and the world have an absolute need of them. They should deepen their love for Christ the good shepherd, pattern their hearts on his, be ready to go out as his image into the highways of the world to proclaim to all mankind Christ the way, the truth and the life.

I appeal especially to families. May parents, mothers in particular, be generous in giving their sons to the Lord when he calls them to the priesthood. May they cooperate joyfully in their vocational journey, realizing that in this way they will be increasing and deepening their Christian fruitfulness in the Church and that, in a sense, they will experience the blessedness of Mary, the virgin mother: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Lk. 1:42)

To today's young people I say: Be more docile to the voice of the Spirit, let the great expectations of the Church, of mankind, resound in the depths of your hearts. Do not be afraid to open your minds to Christ the Lord who is calling. Feel his loving look upon you and respond enthusiastically to Jesus when he asks you to follow him without reserve.

The Church responds to grace through the commitment which priests make to receive that ongoing formation which is required by the dignity and responsibility conferred on them by the sacrament of holy orders. All priests are called to become aware how especially urgent it is for them to receive formation at the present time: The new evangelization needs new evangelizers, and these are the priests who are serious about living their priesthood as a specific path toward holiness.

God promises the Church not just any sort of shepherds, but shepherds "after his own heart." And God's "heart" has revealed itself to us fully in the heart of Christ the good shepherd. Christ's heart continues today to have compassion for the multitudes and to give them the bread of truth, the bread of love, the bread of life (cf. Mk. 6:30ff.), and it pleads to be allowed to beat in other hearts - priests' hearts: "You give them something to eat" (Mk. 6:37). People need to come out of their anonymity and fear. They need to be known and called by name, to walk in safety, along the paths of life, to be found again if they have become lost, to be loved, to receive salvation as the supreme gift of God's love. All this is done by Jesus, the good shepherd - by himself and by his priests with him.

~ Excerpt from Pastores Dabo Vobis ~